Wet springs bring banner duck numbers

For the past couple of years, many species of North American ducks have been on a reproductive roll.

Dave Golowenski, For The Columbus Dispatch

For the past couple of years, many species of North American ducks have been on a reproductive roll.

The wet spring of 2011 on nesting grounds helped boost duck numbers, dramatically in some species. With plenty of residual moisture, this year’s nesting was at least as successful. Consequently, surveys conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicated that nine of the 10 most-watched species by hunters and allied conservationists are at or above 2011 levels, Ducks Unlimited reported recently.

Mallards, for instance, reached a population of 10 million this year for the first time since 1999. The estimated numbers of northern shovelers (5 million) and blue-winged teal (9.2 million) stand at all-time highs since counts began.

Scaup numbered more than 5?million for the first time since 1991, although they, along with northern pintails and American wigeons, remains below the population goals set in the North American Waterfowl Management plan.

Although only a tiny fraction of the continent’s waterfowl will pass through Ohio during the fall and winter migration, the numbers have permitted federal guidelines that give the states, including Ohio, a 2012-13 season with generous bag limits.

Under the guidelines, the Ohio Wildlife Council has approved the following:

• ?A daily bag limit of six ducks, which can include no more than four mallards, though only one can be a female; three wood ducks; one black duck; two redheads; four scaups; one canvasback; and one mottled duck.

• ?A daily limit of five mergansers, though no more than two may be hooded mergansers.

• ?A possession limit after the first day that is twice the daily bag limit for ducks, geese and brants.

• ?A duck season in the North Zone that runs Oct. 13-28 and Nov. 24 to Jan. 6; in the South Zone that runs Oct. 20-28 and Dec. 8 to Jan. 27; and in the Lake Erie Marsh Zone that runs Oct.?13-28 and Nov. 10 to Dec. 23.

• ?A goose season in the North Zone that runs Oct. 13-28, Nov. 24 to Jan. 6 and Jan. 12-29; in the South Zone that runs Oct. 20 to Nov. 11 and Dec. 8 to Jan. 31, and in the Lake Erie Canada Goose Zone that runs Oct. 13-28 and Nov. 10 to Jan. 10.

• ?Special youth waterfowl seasons for hunters ages 15 and younger that will run Sept. 29-30 in the Lake Erie Marsh Zone and North Zone and Nov. 23-24 in the South Zone.

Waterfowl hunters of any age are required to obtain Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification. Those age 18 and older must purchase a state wetland habitat stamp, and those age 16 and older must possess a federal duck stamp.

Details about the regulations, including maps of the zones, can be found in Publication 5295, Waterfowl Hunting Seasons. The publication, which can be viewed at the website, wildohio.com, will be available at license agent outlets by late September.

Although this year’s waterfowl survey is nothing if not good news to both hunters and wildlife watchers, nesting conditions deteriorated significantly as the year progressed.

The estimated number of ponds in the north-central United States — part of the prairie incubator habitat for ducks — fell from 3.2?million in 2011 to 1.7 million this year, a loss of 49 percent, although “similar to the long-term average,” Ducks Unlimited reported.

Further, while much of the region was rated “good to excellent” in 2011, only a limited section of the Dakotas was rated “good” in 2012. No habitat was rated “excellent.”

A mild winter and a general lack of rain, including drought in some regions, have dried up potential nesting habitat in the United States and in the important prairie regions of Canada. Also having an effect is the loss of habitable waterfowl land to agriculture.

The federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays landowners to convert marginal cropland into more wildlife-friendly habitat, has lost millions of acres in the upper Midwest. Behind that loss are farmers wanting to cash in on high grain prices stemming from drought, federally sanctioned ethanol production and the demand for livestock feed.

outdoors@dispatch.com

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